Eastbourne is a medium-sized town in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, with a population, according to the 2001 Census, of around 90,000. Created almost from scratch during the 19th Century, it soon became a prime seaside resort, but has since suffered from the general trend away from taking holidays within the UK.
Geographically, Eastbourne is situated at the very end of the South Downs, and boasts the famous Beachy Head cliff, as well as extensive beaches.
Trains leave from London Victoria to Eastbourne with a journey time of around 1hr 30mins. Local rail services also serve Brighton to the west and Hastings and Ashford, Kent to the east.
The town promotes itself as "The Sunshine Coast", and often claims the highest recorded hours of sunlight, producing a rivalry with the larger coastal resorts of Bournemouth and Weymouth
The area around Eastbourne is known to have been settled throughout history - artefacts dating to the Stone Age have been found in the surrounding countryside, and there are both Roman and Anglo-Saxon sites within the modern boundaries of the town; some even speculate that it was a major Roman settlement. However, it remained an area of small rural settlements until the 19th Century, with 4 villages or hamlets occupying the site of the modern town Bourne (or, to distinguish it from others of the same name, East Bourne), surrounded the "bourne" (stream) which rises in what is now Motcombe Park, and is now known as Old Town; Meads, where the Downs meet the coast; South Bourne; and the fishing settlement known simply as Sea Houses.
By the mid-19th Century most of the area had fallen into the hands of two landowners: John Davies Gilbert (the Davies-Gilbert family still own much of the land in Eastbourne and East Dean) and William Cavendish, Earl of Burlington. Encouraged by the growing appreciation of the seaside sparked by Richard Russell's assertion of its medicinal benefits some decades earlier, these were to oversee the creation of "the empress of watering places". An early plan, for a town named "Burlington", was abandoned, but in 1849 the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway arrived, and the town's growth accelerated. Cavendish, now the 7th Duke of Devonshire hired Henry Currey in 1859 to lay out a plan for what was essentially an entire new town — a resort built "for gentlemen by gentlemen". The town grew rapidly — from a population of less than 4000 in 1851 to over 22000 by 1881 — and in 1883 was incorporated as a "municipal borough"; a purpose-built town hall was opened in 1886
Suburbs of Eastbourne are Langney Rise, Shinewater, Kingsmere, Langney Village, The Marina, Langney Point, Hampden Park Village, Willingdon Trees, Winkney Farm, Ratton, Rodmill, Ocklynge, Seaside, Bridgemere, Downside, Town Centre, Little Chelsea, Meads, Holywell, Old Town, North Harbour and South Harbour
Eastbourne Hotel, Eastbourne Bed and Breakfast, Eastbourne Cheap Hotel accommodation suitable for a Eastbourne Weekend Break, a Eastbourne City Break, Eastbourne Wedding Accommodation, Eastbourne Guys Night out, Eastbourne Girls Night out or even a Eastbourne Stag Night or a Eastbourne Hen Night
BedandBreakfasts.co.uk
